Disneyland Park · Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
Fly the Falcon from one of six jobs — pilot, gunner, or engineer — in a five-minute simulator that is mostly about the queue.
Ride facts
- Type
- Simulator
- Height
- 40in (102cm)
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Motion sickness
- High motion risk
- Getting wet
- Stay dry
- Indoor / outdoor
- Indoor
- Air conditioned
- Yes
- Single rider
- Available
- Rider Switch
- Available
Last verified July 2026
What it is
Smugglers Run opened with Galaxy's Edge in May 2019 and gives each rider a role in a six-person crew: two pilots at the front, two gunners in the middle, two engineers in the back. What you actually do differs by seat, and your collective performance changes the ride slightly — hit enough obstacles and the ship visibly falls apart around you.
Note the height difference between resorts: Disneyland requires 40 inches, while the Hollywood Studios version requires 38. This trips up families who ride in Florida first.
The honest assessment is that the ride is decent and the queue is exceptional. You walk through Ohnaka Transport Solutions, past a full-scale Millennium Falcon parked outside that is the best photo opportunity at Disneyland Resort, through a hold with a working dejarik table and a lounge dressed exactly as the film sets were. Then you get five minutes in a shaking cockpit. The proportions are backwards, and it is still worth doing.
What riding it is actually like
The exterior Falcon is enormous and standing under it is genuinely the moment most people remember. The queue then routes through Hondo Ohnaka's operation, a briefing room, and a ship's hold with the chess table and lounge seating, before splitting crews into cockpit groups of six.
Inside the cockpit, pilots have a yoke and throttle and actually steer, gunners have buttons that fire when targets appear, and engineers press illuminated buttons to repair damage. Pilot is the seat everyone wants and the only one that meaningfully affects the ride. Gunner is the most fun for a child. Engineer is close to pointless — you will spend five minutes hitting lights and watching the screen over other people's heads.
The five minutes themselves are a chase: a launch, a run at a target, a collection sequence, and an escape, all on a wraparound screen with the cockpit pitching underneath you. If your pilots are bad, and they usually are, you will spend most of it sideways with alarms going off, which is more entertaining than a clean run.
Is Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run scary?
A motion simulator cockpit with a wraparound screen. There is nothing frightening in the content, but the combination of screen motion and a small enclosed cockpit is a reliable trigger for motion sickness in people who never get it elsewhere. The bangs and alarms when the ship takes damage startle small children.
Scores are editorial, on a 1–5 scale, judged against what frightens a typical four- to seven-year-old rather than an adult.
Accessibility
- Wheelchair
- Must transfer to the ride vehicle
- Audio description
- Available
- Handheld captioning
- Available
- Assistive listening
- Available
- Sign language
- Not offered
- Service animals
- Must use a kennel or wait with a companion
You transfer into a fixed cockpit seat with a harness-style belt and step over a threshold into a small space. Note that Disneyland's height requirement is 40 inches, two inches taller than the Walt Disney World version at 38.
Tips that actually help
- Ask a cast member at the merge point for pilot seats. They cannot always accommodate it, but they say yes more often than people expect, especially for a child.
- If you get motion sick, sit in an engineer seat and look at the cockpit rather than the screen. The gunner and pilot positions face the screen directly and are far worse.
- The single rider line is fast and it splits your party. It is the right call for a repeat ride and the wrong call if you wanted to fly together.
- Walk out and around to the Falcon exterior even if you are not riding — it is the best photo at Disneyland Resort and there is a marked spot for it.
- Disneyland's requirement is 40 inches, not the 38 used in Florida. Do not assume a child clears it based on a Hollywood Studios trip.
- Ride at night. Galaxy's Edge lighting after dark is the strongest argument for the land existing, and the queue is shorter.
Timing
- Best time to ride
- After dark, when the land looks its best and waits drop, or in the first hour of the day.
- Typical wait
- 30 to 60 minutes most of the day; 15 to 25 late. Single rider is often under 15.
- Lightning Lane
- Lightning Lane Multi Pass
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run: common questions
How tall do you have to be to ride Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at Disneyland?
40 inches. This is two inches taller than the Walt Disney World version, which requires 38. If your child rode it at Hollywood Studios, measure again before you promise them a ride here.
Will Smugglers Run make me motion sick?
It is the most likely attraction at Disneyland to do so, alongside Star Tours. The cockpit is enclosed, the screen fills your field of view, and the platform moves under you. Engineer seats at the back are noticeably better if you are susceptible, because you can look away from the screen.
Which seat is the best?
Pilot, without question — you actually steer and the ride responds. Gunner is the most satisfying for kids because the buttons do something visible. Engineer is the weakest seat, with the worst sightline and the least to do, and it is where cast members put whoever arrives last.
Is there a single rider line?
Yes, and it is genuinely fast, frequently under fifteen minutes when standby is posting forty-five. It splits your party across different cockpits and skips part of the queue, so it is best used on a second ride.